Law Commons^™

Treating The Blue Rash: Win-Win Solutions And Improving The Land Exchange Process, Smith Monson

Utah Law Review

The history of public land laws from disposal to retention has created a fragmented ownership in the West. The school land grants led to a spotty pattern of state trust land ownership. This in turn creates conflict between the mandates of federal agencies—whose mandate is to protect environmentally sensitive areas—and state trust land authorities—whose mandate is to generate revenues for their beneficiaries. Both mandates promote important public interests.

Legislative land exchanges present potential win-win solutions for extricating state trust lands from within federal conservation areas, but they require a process that is too long and onerous. However, by improving the …